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Sortition as an alternative to elections
I have written about random selection in political processes in numerous writings, including my books Democracy in Small Groups, The Group in Society, and By Popular Demand. More recently, however, I have participated in serious discussions about using “sortition,” a process that relies on random selection to fill public offices.
My first writing on the subject was an op-ed, which I co-authored with a diverse group of sortition advocates. “Imagine a Democracy Built on Lotteries, Not Elections” appeared in the online magazine Zocalo: The Public Square. The essay was reprinted in various outlets around the globe, including the Sydney Morning Herald, where it was retitled, “Why not select politicians as randomly as jurists?”
Currently, I am working with Erik Olin Wright on a new volume in the Real Utopias book series, which will address this idea in greater detail.